And I am SO glad to hear that someone else feels this way.

Hope you check it out – I contribute to the Skeptic Zone podcast and the ‘What to do Next?: Leading Skeptics Give105 Ways to Promote Science and Advance Skepticism’ produced by Skeptic.com.

I absolutely agree with you. It’s unfortunate that my post comes across as anti-TAM, when it really should’ve begun “Lately I am in need of a reminder of why I want to be part of the skeptical community,” and then gone on to talk about how questions about getting more women involved in things like TAM made me think about why I’ve been not participating in discussions and avoiding events I’d normally be keen on, and delving deeper still, whether or not I “fit in”/feel comfortable with the skeptic label. And then I should have really emphasized that I’m not going to let a few jerkstores spoil the stripmall.

Honestly I am positive I would enjoy TAM. I love our local CFI events and I have a blast cohosting Pittsburgh’s Drinking Skeptically with Laura. It would be a lot of fun hanging out with my online friends. I meant no offense to TAM/JREF — it just happened to be the most recent event and the one I’m most likely to attend. And I think actually going to something big like TAM is making a statement that skepticism is important to you. So that’s what I was questioning –how much of myself am I willing to put into this? Does that make sense?

My only qualification is in painting signs. Beyond that I’ve worked in graphic art and fine art, both successfully, both unqualified.

I’ve learnt more about biology since I began blogging scepticism last year than I’d ever known before – and I’m somewhere around 50. I’m no biologist.

In fact, I’ve learnt a lot about science in general.

Would I go to TAM? I don’t know. Firstly it’s about 20,000km away or something and secondly, even if it were closer, it’s very expensive. If neither of those are an issue for you, it’s hard to imagine the experience would be particularly horrible, especially if you get to meet up with online people you DO admire.

Just my 20 cents (two cents just never seems enough these days).

Ok, finally not at work!

It’s not so much that I feel intimidated or that I don’t feel smart enough. What makes me feel like I perhaps don’t fit in is that I’m often uncomfortable with the sentiments made by some folks in online skeptical outlets. (Even sometimes the comments at Skepchick.)

One of the discussions that has resurfaced since TAM7 is how to encourage more women to get involved while at the same time there were lots of conversations going that made this woman want to stay far, far away. (And I’m not really an outsider, so I can’t help but think about how someone new would feel.)

Examples? In general threads that touch on rape, gender, or racism. There seems to be this mental block for some people where they cannot fathom others’ feelings, and that when they’ve personally decided that something is no longer an issue that everyone else should “be rational” and get over it. Being dismissive seems counter to critical thinking (and to skeptical outreach) as does assuming you already know everything there is to know about a social or cultural subject you’ve only delved into academically. (Sam’s AI is very timely!)

So it’s not just that I feel like arts/humanities are being undervalued (and to an extent, I think they are not taken as seriously) but I have encountered attitudes like “because I Get Science I get all the easy stuff you people do” as well as “my big giant brain could not possibly be wrong about how you should feel.”

Oh oh crap –I’ve not addressed all of the really great thoughts on this thread but that’s all I can manage until after Torchwood.

I would love to go to TAM someday but I would be intimidated as hell just as much and largely for the same reasons. That wouldn’t stop me from going, though. You may indeed encounter people who will deride your lack of ‘appropriate’ background but those people aren’t the ones who matter at TAM.

As all the prior commenters have noted, you’ve nothing to feel inferior about. If you have an interest in skepticism, you are part of the community. And in every community there are some jerks. Ignore them and interact with the non-jerks.

As someone with a background in English and Art background you do bring to the table much needed skills. Every community that wishes to communicate effectively needs people who can write clearly and concisely (or edit others, a woefully lacking function in the blogosphere and in particular in this comment) and design media and interfaces that are more aesthetically pleasing than what is common on many science-oriented sites.

As a side note I worked for two years on a team of the most geeky, skeptical, hardcore brilliant software architects and developers/designers. Amongst the five of us there was a whopping one Comp Sci degree. The rest were all MFA’s and one History major (myself).

PARTIAL list of people who stood on the stage @ TAM7, are not scientists or even in a science field aside from work in skepticism, yet did not appear to be there for no reason (meaning Bill Prady):

Jeff Wagg: already chimed in above

D.J. Grothe – writer/magician/podcaster

Jennifer Ouellette – writer

Adam Savage – special effects artist

Hal Bidlack – retired military/history prof/politician

Jamy Ian Swiss – magician

Penn and Teller – both magicians

Michael Goudeau – juggler/writer/former circus clown :O!

Derek Bartholomaus – “Post Guy” (post production work in television)

Robert Langdon – Honestly don’t know what he did for a living before retiring, but he’s a “citizen skeptic” and has been honored recently as such.

Steve Cuno – marketing guru

Brian Dunning – difficult to nail down; venture capital consulting?

Tim Farley – software engineer

Christian Walters – tech writer

Adam Slagell – security engineer

Rebecca Watson – writer/podcaster/organizer

Alison Smith – former private investigator/writer/research assistant

The Amazing Randi Himself is a magician, not a scientist

Poetry is actually considered quite cool in some skeptic circles. Check out Digital Cuttlefish: http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/

I met a massage therapist TAM7. We had a terrific talk & are now friends.

Here’s the bottom line:

If you feel uncomfortable about fitting in and you believe that it is more than your own insecurities talking, choose better friends.

I run into people every day who say, “He’s a musician/artist/writer, so what does he know about biology?” Hell, I even hear, “You’re a psychologist, so why should I listen to you about physics?” These are people who do not understand science and skepticism themselves. They are superior only in their own minds.

What you do for a living, in my eyes, is not relevant.

However, skepticism and science are very, very closely related, so that’s where the discussions at these things need to be, imo. My emphasis on science is not snobbery; as Carl Sagan said, there are no authorities in science. Skepticism and science are ways of life, not just professions.

You do not need to know what “gambler’s fallacy” is. In fact, I love educating intelligent, interesting people what I have learned through my research and studies and LOVE being educated about what they have learned just by thinking critically. It helps me to form hypotheses which I can then test (scientifically).

Come to TAM8. If I haven’t put you off with my “Get over it” rant (which is really just my way of being direct; you’ll get used to it), then hang out with me. I’ll make you a T-Shirt that says:

“I’m into art and literature. If you don’t like that, bite me.”

On the front, and

“In science, there are no authorities.”

on the back. Okay?

sorry so long – I feel strongly about this

I generally do not participate in forums or in the comments section of blogs. I am more of a stalker on the Randi Forum just to see what events I can find. I am saddened by you experiance on these and am disappointed that it may be fellow skeptics that has lead to this.

In my experiance TAM is well worth the trip and cost.

I’ve met many artists, writers and philosophers at TAM. It’s not just for science geeks or geeks at all. It’s for anyone who wants to explore what’s real and what isn’t with other folks on a similar mission.